Genomics Aotearoa

Murray Cox Do I have to finish my favourite genome? That’s an often-asked question. Geneticists generally strive to produce high-quality genomes that sequence every last gene, making full use of the state-of-the-art technologies coming on stream. Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks – called “bases” – that make up the DNA molecule. The sequence … Read More

Ngoni Faya February 11, 2013 is one of the days I won’t forget in my academic life. I was so excited, enthusiastic and more than ready to pursue my Master’s programme in Bioinformatics, which was designed to start with some intense course work to get everyone up to speed with the computing skills essential for research projects. But I was … Read More

Dr Anna Santure, University of Auckland How important is genetic diversity to species persistence? This is a question we’ve been puzzling over in New Zealand, and worldwide, for some decades. It has been difficult to address using ‘traditional’ approaches to determine genetic diversity, which sample just a handful of positions in the genome. However, in recent years, with much lower … Read More

1

Dr Ann McCartney We have recently completed the first high-quality genome of a stick insect using link read technology, but what does this mean? And why is a gold standard reference genome important to New Zealand’s conservation efforts? Stick insects are actually biologically interesting. Firstly, in times of stress, they have the ability to become parthenogenic, meaning the females lay … Read More

3

Professor Cristin Print ‘Omics technologies are an advance that few health practitioners can ignore. The last five years has seen an expanding range of technological advances. Genomics and related ‘omic technologies are rapidly penetrating into the mainstream of primary and secondary care and transforming our knowledge of disease through research. Some of these new technologies are destined to be used … Read More

Peter Dearden Sequencing is an essential part of creating a genome, be it human, stick insect, kākāpō or sheep (all genomes Genomics Aotearoa is currently working on). But what is sequencing, how does it work, and why does it take so long?  And why does it matter to us? Sequencing is a laboratory process where segments of DNA base pairs … Read More

3

Dr Phillip Wilcox Genomics research is an emerging frontier that will mean applications such as personalised medicine being developed for New Zealand-specific problems, and something that will see an increasing focus on the needs of Māori populations. However, Māori are significantly under-represented in genomic sciences. One successful way of building capability to improve understanding of … Read More

1

Dr Alana Alexander A “random walk” is a mathsy term for a path strung together with a bunch of random steps (not unlike trying to walk my stubborn St. Bernard cross on a leash). Despite being a bioinformatician (which folks often think means “also a maths wiz”), my maths is (unfortunately) not great. Therefore, I mention random walks not because … Read More

Greg Jones The study of epigenetics could well be a key tool in transforming valuable genomic information into useful health outcomes for New Zealanders. But what is epigenetics and why is it important? Epigenetics is the influence of genetic susceptibility combined with the complex interactions of each individual’s environment over their lifetime. An individual’s epigenome is a dynamic personalised profile … Read More

2

This is the first posting of a blog provided by members of the newly formed New Zealand research organisation; Genomics Aotearoa (GA). GA is an MBIE platform to improve the use of genomics and bioinformatics in New Zealand, and part of what we do it talking about what might be able to be achieved with these sciences. Why should you … Read More